Morning 10

Ran with Ryan this morning out to the River Lodge and along the "nature" trail that winds through the woods between golf holes back to the club. We added on a mile out-and-back out to the Bluffs before heading down the main drag, where Ryan turned off around 6.5 miles and I continued down to the gatehouse and along the berm to finish up my run. I was planning to run slowly today, but even with .75 miles on the dirt nature trail and ~2 miles along the packed gravel path along the berm, it's hard to run slowly on a route that's basically flat as a pancake and mostly road :-) So we just went with it. I did stop briefly after Ryan turned off, mostly in an attempt to stretch out my right hip, which although feeling better still is tight, but also to open a gu, something I haven't quite perfected on the run without getting sticky gel all over my hands :-) Got in a decent 10 miles. Saw a Great Blue Heron and Great Egret along the big pond - such big wingspans - always fun to see in flight.

This afternoon, Ryan, Sam and I went up to the pool. I was freezing the second I got in and stayed that way during the entire 45 minutes that I lasted in the water. I did a number of laps in an attempt to get warm (can I call this crosstraining?! :) ), but it didn't really work :-0 While I'm definitely a better swimmer than Ryan, he can certainly outlast me in the water. Sam, of course, being 4 years old, is pretty much impervious to the cold and would stay in all day if she could. Ha!

Berm Run and Beach Fun

Didn't quite get up as early as planned this morning - it is vacation after all! - so I just went for a short run. Got in a nice 4 miles on a loop through the neighborhood that includes some running on the path along the berm that borders the community. One of the only places to run on dirt around here :-) Saw two Great Blue herons along the ponds, a cardinal, the resident mockingbirds, a Belted Kingfisher flying low along the water, and a number of large Garden Spiders. I do not ever want to run into one of their webs! *shudder*

After my run, we headed to Wrightsville Beach. It was high tide and a bit breezy, but the sun was shining, the beach was almost empty and we had a lot of fun collecting shells, splashing in the surf and building sandcastles and a castle "pond" that Sam played in. It's always a good day at the beach :-)

Walking the beach, looking for shells

Sam building her castle

"Helping" Daddy bring up water for the castle "pond"

Silly girl!

Fun in the sand and water

And of course, the traditional post-beach stop at Boombalati's!

Southern Cart Path Run

Got out on the cart paths this morning, but not my typical route :-) The golf course right outside my parent's house is closed for maintenance on Mondays, so Ryan and I headed out for a run along the cart paths around 9am. It was bright and sunny, with a cool breeze blowing. Pretty nice NC weather! As we ran along, we saw numerous bluebirds, a red-headed woodpecker, a Great Blue Heron at the edge of one of the many ponds along the course, several mockingbirds, and a number of turtles poking their little heads out of the water. Always something to see down here. Got in a nice 6.25 miles in under 54 minutes.

While we were out running, Sam was helping Neenie plant some lettuce, herbs and arugula. Think she was having fun!

NC Fun

I've currently been up for 17 hours and it's only 8:45 pm. 3:45 am is not a happy wake up time. With the silly "not sleeping after a long run" thing, and the fact that I knew I had to get up at an ungodly hour, I was awake for half the night. I've since gotten a 2nd wind, but I spent the vast majority of the morning feeling pretty exhausted. Add in the traveling, and well, you get the picture :-) But we made it to NC without issue, and spent a few hours after we arrived playing at Pullen Park and the farmer's market in Raleigh before heading to my parent's house. Sam had a blast in the park, riding the carousel, playing on the playground, riding the train and perhaps getting the biggest grins of the day, riding on the toy boats. She was a great traveler and in very good spirits all day long, despite being pulled from her bed at 4:30 am. She even had enough energy to race around after dinner tonight on the golf course, playing in the sandtraps and jumping in the puddles. I swear, if I could figure out how to harness her energy, I'd make millions!!

On the playground at Pullen Park

Glam shot

On the carousel

Train ride

Ringing the bell on the boat

Driving the boat

Sandtrap fun

Yup, raking the sandtrap in a tutu :-)

Jump!

Look at those toes!

This is just so Sam. Love the hair flip as she drives off - ha!

Running on the BBU Course

Kristen nicely agreed to watch Sam this morning, meaning we were happy that we could get in a long run together, and Sam was happy as she had recently been asking me "When are we going to see Morgan next?" We parked at the elementary school, as there was a mountain bike race going on in the park, and headed out around 8:45 into the fog. It was also quite chilly, but as it soon became evident, also very humid. A strange mix.

Going up Lunchbreak is a tough way to start a run, but it was (mostly) runnable with no miles on our legs. We followed the BBU course down into the park and across the street onto the east side trails. Our route corresponded for a few miles with the bikers, most of whom were very nice and pleasant. But I found it extremely nerve-wracking to be playing cat and mouse with them, and I was happy to get back to the west side. After a bathroom break, we headed on out, testing out the revised route which included Krista's. That stretch definitely made for much nicer running than the Boundary! Then out onto the Connector. 

By the time we hit the road, it was evident that Ryan's hard(er) effort in the Bruiser and his Thursday night hill session with Ian had taken a bit of a toll, but we kept it together and certainly both felt much better than when we had last been out on the course! I do love the stretch after you turn off the powerlines - it is good cruising ground. Back up from Lawrence Road to the Quarry and down, where we met up with Mindy, Val, Rick and Pete cruising on back to the Boundary. We hung with them and caught up for a bit before they went straight and we went right to make our way to the summit. 

I told Ryan at that point that I really didn't want to do the course again. I just wasn't feeling it. I was soaked with sweat and kind of grouchy. I was having a hard time getting into any sort of rhythm out there. I didn't feel badly, I just didn't feel great. But I knew I needed to get more miles in so we just kept chugging along. Ryan hit a down point as we finally hit the homestretch to the summit, saying he was done. I didn't have enough water to keep going for more miles without returning to the car, so we both continued down Lunchbreak. By the time we got to the car, even though Ryan's legs were really hurting, he had decided to keep going. After a brief stop to refill and regroup, we headed back out. I said I would be happy with 20. He said we were going out to Lawrence Road. A bit slower up Lunchbreak this time around :-) and then a bit of a course deviation to get back to the Connector. 

When we got up to the Quarry, I really wanted to turn back but Ryan was adamant and my whining fell of deaf ears. Well, I couldn't let him get in more miles than me :-) so I begrudgingly followed him down to the road. Then I just wanted to get back so I turned off the whining and decided I would power up all the hills and feel good about it. Well, it seemed like I was powering, although the pace tells otherwise. Ha :-) But I didn't walk but a few steps on the return trip. It felt good to know my legs could be strong even if my mind felt a bit weak. That final mile down Lunchbreak was slow - the downs hurt much more than the ups for me!

We finished up with 21 miles, feeling fairly wupped. Man, that course is a tough one! After changing and making a quick stop at Edna & Lucy's for some delicious soup in an attempt to revive ourselves, we headed south to pick up Sam. Of course, she could have stayed and played forever, so my guilt at being out a little longer than planned was quickly assuaged :-)

Now it's time to get off the computer and into bed, so we can get up at 0'dark'30 to get down to Boston for our flight to NC. No hills to complain about next week! 

Route Finding

Went to see Dr. Jamie yesterday. He cracked and pulled away on a few things and when he got to the outer edge of my hip/thigh, he did some trigger point releasing and came away saying, "Oh, that really is tight, isn't it?" Indeed. Feels better today although things were still a bit tight on my run this afternoon. Still, headed in the right direction.

Warm out this afternoon! I headed out on a Snowplug 50k scouting trip and think I have come up with a good loop that doesn't repeat itself, will have a few hills, some nice singletrack along the river and some good easy dirt road running. Should be just over 6.2 miles a loop. I added in a few more miles and called it good at 8. Now it's time to pick up the kiddo and get to work getting organized for tomorrow's long run and Sunday's trip to NC!

Morning Run

Second morning in a row of tights, long sleeves and gloves. This morning, even though I headed out around the same time as yesterday, around 5:45 am, I took my headlamp. I planned to try a possible Snowplug 50k loop, which would take me into the woods right away and I knew I would need the light to actually see where I was going for the first few miles :-)

Up the trail to the summit and then out through the woods to Mountain Road. There I turned off my light and looked across to see a golden light on the horizon, the sky clear of clouds but still glowing as the sun rose. My route took me along the Heath and down to the river, the mist rising above the water. The return to the house isn't quite sorted out yet, as I was hoping not to have to repeat the Mountain Road/Mt. Ararat trail section, so I'll have to try again and see if I can figure things out to make a loop instead of the rather lopsided lollypop that I did this morning. On the flip side, if we do do this morning's route, it's clocking in at exactly 6.2 miles :-)

Chilly

Wore long sleeves, tights and gloves this morning, and could have worn my winter running hat too - my ears were cold :-) It was only 41 degrees at first light, and it sure felt like fall out there.

The sun rose softly this morning, simply emitting a peachy glow along the horizon. There were little wet footprints along the bog bridges at the end of the Heath but none clear enough that I could discern who had traveled them before me. The cotton sedge puff-balls looked like frost atop the golden grasses.

Got in a nice 4 miles to shake out the legs. A bit of tightness in my hip again but I'm headed to see Dr. Jamie on Thursday, so hopefully that will take care of it.

2013 Bradbury Bruiser Race Report Plus A Few Photos

Yesterday, after Irene and Dana arrived, we went to have lunch and then headed to Freeport to take a short walk at Wolfe's Neck State Park and to visit the farm. We capped off the day with dinner at Frontier, and what else but gelato :-) Perfect pre-race dinner, right?!

On the beach

Interesting sky

Sam decided to make a dam in the stream run-off headed down to the ocean

Ryan and Sam working on her project

This morning, I woke up not quite knowing how today's race would turn out. I stretched and rolled as much as I could and while the hip felt much better than earlier in the week, I was still a bit worried that it would act up out in the woods and cause an issue. To say I went into the race without much plan other than to not sabotage my Stonecat training pretty much sums it up. I didn't even do a warm-up. 

I started off near Jamie and Sean, which seemed ambitious, but Jamie was planning to start out slow and ramp it up as the run went along, and I figured Sean would be a good rabbit, as he's been beating me all season in these races. Turns out I got onto the singletrack ahead of them both, but they caught up not long after I turned into the Island Trail. We all ran together, both of them saying I was running a fine pace for the moment. As soon as we got out of the twisty Island Trail, Jamie was off like a shot. Sean stayed behind me, content for the time being. Luckily, the large crowd had thinned out nicely, and even just a few miles in, there wasn't much jockeying for position, just moving forward. Sean and I chatted on and off as we ran along, and it was nice to have him behind me - kept me moving, although with all the mud and puddles, I certainly wasn't moving gracefully :-)

I was feeling good. The hip wasn't an issue at the moment, and I felt like I was pushing without going nuts. Somewhere around 5 miles, Sean fell behind. And then since I was feeling good, I just decided to go for it. What did I have to lose? I hit the Snowmobile Trail hard, passing at least 4 or 5 people on the climb, and as I neared the Fox West turn off, I realized I could see the woman in green who had passed me way back at the beginning, before the Island Trail - she was just ahead. I passed her back somewhere in the singletrack area, and then since I didn't want her to pass me back, I just kept pushing. 

When I got to the last aid station, Jeremy and Zak kidded me that Ryan was just ahead, but I was too smart to believe them! Ryan might not have been feeling great, but I was sure he was far ahead. (Turns out he was too, beating me by 13 minutes. Nice!) I pushed up that darn hill on the Knights Woods Trail and then, into the "O." I really am not an "O" fan. Too twisty without much space to get into a rhythm. But I had a carrot ahead. I caught him. Then someone caught me. I caught him back. Ended up passing 3 people in the "O," which I'm going to consider an achievement :-) Darn the "O"! Then hurray, the wall, the wall! Only the final stretch to go. Finished in 1:58:17, in 50th place. I felt satisfied with my effort, which wasn't all out, but which ended up having more umph than I thought it would.

That being said, this whole series hasn't been the best for me. 2011 was just so awesome. I was fast that year! Last year was a bit of a bust with the whole stress fracture/reaction thing, and I was so hopeful that I could at the very least better those times this year. But I didn't, not during any of the races. *Sigh* It's never fun to feel like you're getting old and slow :-) Can't quite put my finger on why. I don't know if it's that I don't have that fire, that drive, like I did in 2011? I haven't felt really into any of the races this year, although that doesn't stop me from wanting to do well. Am I just a bit burnt out on racing at Bradbury, as much as I think the series is awesome? Or that I've just been running a lot more slow miles this year and have done no speed work at all? Well, whatever the case, it is what it is, and let's face it - in the end, I'm still proud to be a owner of a very cool Badass hoodie :-)

Many, many thanks to Ian and Ryan for the countless hours they put into putting on the Bradbury series! And to all the volunteers who do the same. It is an awesome trail running community that we are part of, and it is always fun to catch up with running friends before, after and during the races!

RESULTS

1:58:17

50/143

6th woman

Pretty

I awoke feeling a bit apprehensive about my tight hip, but decided to give it a go. I stretched and rolled and tennis balled (ow!) and headed out the door right around 6:00 am. The skies were already fairly light with the sun rising along the horizon leaving streaks of pink and orange set against periwinkle blue clouds. Pretty. I decided to be smart and not try to do the 7 I had originally planned for today, just so I could get my miles up to 30 ;), and hit the Highland Green loop instead, which would give me an out should the hip just feel too wonky. Luckily, it felt OK and I ran the whole loop, feeling only a bit of tightness later in the run. There was also a port-a-potty set up right along the road around 2 miles near where a new house being built, right when I really needed one. Also saw a nice red fox cross the road, its tail fluffy. Hurray for small happinesses :-) Glad to get in decent 5 miles, and looking forward to seeing Ryan's parents this afternoon and heading to Wolfe's Neck after lunch to enjoy what's looking like it's going to be a nice day!

Darker and Darker

Headed over to the Commons after work today for my run. The rain had stopped but it was muggy and dreary. I texted Ryan, telling him I wasn't feeling all that enthused and that I was headed out for somewhere between 7 and 10. He wrote back to go for the 10. I shrugged and said to myself, OK, fine, I'll go for 10. Sometimes I just need someone to make my mind up for me ;) So I picked up my handheld and headed out onto the trails. My legs were quickly soaked from the encroaching brush on the deer trails out near the end of the Commons, and my shirt was soon wet with sweat. As I hit the dirt road loop out in Pennelville, a bit of sun was poking through the clouds out over the ocean, but a very dark bank of clouds had rolled in over the Commons and greater Brunswick. Well, I was headed out to the ocean anyway :-) Turned onto the very wet, grassy trails at Coleman Farm and followed them down to the salt water marsh, stopping to take in the vista (lovely!) and stretch my increasingly tight hip/butt (grrrr....)

Twisty singletrack back along the marsh edge, with a Great Blue Heron fly-over, and then back onto the wet grass - squish squish - only to notice that the clouds were looking more and more angry back the way I was headed. Sweat was dripping from my hat, so it really didn't matter. I was already wet. But I wondered if I could outrun the storm.... Well, no luck there. With 2 miles to go, the heavens opened and then I was thoroughly soaked :) But I got in those 10 miles, though.

Well, it might have been a bit slow, and I'm sort of annoyed/pissed/nervous about my right hip/butt, but I guess I didn't really think I'd get through all my training without some niggling, although that sure would have been nice. Thankfully I had already scheduled an appointment with Dr. Jamie for next week, and you can bet I'll be rolling and sticking and icing like mad the next few days. Hopefully it will help.

Off Course

This week has been a bit of a failure running-wise. Sunday was spent hanging out with our friends while camping, and I had no regrets about not lacing up my running shoes for a run. I had originally planned to run 10 miles around Wolfe's Neck on Monday morning, but interrupted sleep on Sunday night, a cold morning and time spent down on the beach with Sam meant that didn't happen. I got in 5 rather uninspired miles that afternoon when we got home. Tuesday I planned to get up and run. That didn't happen either. I was simply exhausted. But, not running plus a few other things put me in a rather cranky mood. So yesterday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn, and headed out into the murky darkness at 5:30 am with my headlamp on, its beam hitting the mist as I ran out onto the powerlines. I got in 8 miles along the cart paths and on Highland Green Road but it was a struggle. I didn't feel good, I was still tired and even worse, I came home feeling even more cranky because I hadn't had a good run! *Sigh*

Last night I went to bed early with the plan of getting up early once again this morning for a 7 mile run. I don't even remember hearing the alarm, and only woke up at 6:00 am because Ronnie was licking my face, hoping to get me out of bed so I'm get him his breakfast. 8 solid hours of sleep is practically unheard of for me these days. I guess I needed it! I might not have gotten in my run, but somehow I think the sleep was more important today. I had planned to take this week as a step-back week anyway, mostly because of the Bruiser coming up on Sunday, and while it appears it's going to be more of a step-back week than I had planned, I'm trying to not be too hard on myself and just accept that I needed a bit of rest this week.

I try to follow the training plan I've written in my planner, I really do, but it seems to be inevitable that I go off course somewhere, sometimes multiple times, along the way. I consider myself a fairly focused and driven person. I want to do well in the 50. I love lists and crossing things off them :-) You would think sticking to a training plan would be right up my alley. But for some reason, I have never been good at sticking to one. I can't quite put my finger on why. Part of me thinks it's because the reason I love to run is just the running. When I start to feel pressure to run specific miles on specific days, it gets to be too much. Part of me thinks it's just the reality of my life at the moment. Life gets in the way of my training much more than I'd like. Running is important, yes, but it simply can't trump Sam or Ryan or the daily realities of what needs to be done all the time. Sometimes something has to give. Sometimes it's the vacuuming. Or sleep. But sometimes it's the running. Part of me thinks I'm just not a high-mileage runner and maybe never will be. Two 50+-mile weeks is a row might be my limit right now before I need a break. I want to be able to run through a bit of exhaustion and persevere, yes, but I also want to listen to my body and make sure I actually get to the starting line in November. Perhaps I simply can't sustain the high mileage like others. Maybe I just don't want to. Whatever the case, I'm a bit off-course at the moment. But, despite that, I'm still trudging forward...and hoping to feel that light-on-my-feet feeling that I love about a good run again soon.

Summer's Last Hurray

First off, huge congrats to Mindy and Val for finishing their first 100 mile race this weekend! And to George, for finishing his third! Amazing, all around!!!

---

The weekend began with a 5:50 am start. I wondered if Val, Mindy and George were out there running too, towards the dawn, far up north in Canada for the Haliburton 100. Why so early? Well, I needed to get my 22 miles in, then Ryan wanted to get his 20 miles in and then we had to get ourselves out to Freeport to meet up with friends for a long weekend of camping. Nothing like packing it all in :-)

I headed out towards Highland Green, watching the clouds turn pink and purple along the rose-colored horizon.

The Heath, a little after 6:00 am.

I ran a 4-mile loop then headed back home for a quick bathroom stop, a half a donut :-) and to pick up Amy for the rest of my miles. Nothing like a good friend to meet you at 6:30 am on a Saturday for a long run and arrive with time to spare and with donuts! 

We headed out into the Cathance. We marveled at the river and the twisty turny nature of the trails. Not Amy's forte, maybe, but she was a good sport :-) Of course, I think she was happiest when we hit the grassy road that leads out to the Ravine Loop. Ha! After running the Ravine Loop, we hit the back dirt road and looped back to the powerlines, taking them up to the dump and then out into the woods for a short loop before wandering back to Highland Green to do a final loop before we headed towards home. My Garmin buzzed 22 miles right at the end of the walkway, so I'd say that was pretty good :-) 

It was great to have Amy along. We chatted and laughed and the miles went by quickly. My hips and butt were a bit tight in the middle of the run, so I had to stop here and there to stretch, and on the final loop I was feeling pretty tired, but I was good about my fueling and managed to drink all the water I had in my pack while we were out there. And having Amy along made it so much easier. Thank you, my friend! 

With our run, Amy completed her training for Pisgah next weekend and I know she is going to do awesome. So excited for her!! 

After a quick snack and shower, I packed up the rest of the car, and Sam and I headed out to lunch and gelato (of course!) before hitting the back roads to Recompense Campground. We arrived before the others, and I realized I couldn't set up the ginormous tent without help, so we played on the playground until Ryan arrived from his run. Everyone arrived in short order, and it was great to see everyone! We haven't seen Neal, Kendra, Mike or Vicky in years, and we last saw Doug and Adam the weekend we were up in Williamstown for Mim's memorial a year and a half ago. Everyone agreed this was something we should definitely do more often. Nate, Shannon and the kids came over to join in on the fun throughout the weekend and it couldn't have been worked out any better. 

We had an awesome weekend filled with playtime, campfires, smores, lots of sausages and beers, catching up and enjoying the playground, beach and farm together. Of course, it poured all night on Saturday night and Sunday morning dawned overcast and dreary, but our tent didn't leak and the skies cleared around lunchtime, ushering in the cool, crisp air of fall. On the downside, that cool air meant that Sam woke up in the middle of the night last night freezing and we had to layer her up with two pairs of pants, hat and jacket before we could get her back to sleep, but on the plus side, she and I did take a trip to the potty at 4am which enabled us to get a pretty awesome look at the star-filled skies above. I ate ice cream three days in a row, I think Ryan might have had sausage at every meal, and Sam had a great time playing with Adam, Finley and Charlotte, the dogs were all good, there were no major tantrums and there were no emergencies. I'm calling it a very good weekend!

We were all exhausted from all the activity, interrupted sleep and fresh air, so today's run didn't quite pan out as I had hoped, but I did get out at least, even if only for a very slow 5 miles down to the river and back this afternoon around 3:30 after getting the house back in order and things unpacked.

A great way to cap off a fun and very busy summer!

This is why we love where we live.

Kids on the farm.

Finley and Sam leading us to the farm.

Sam and Adam down by the water.

Saturday afternoon, Sam started this "castle" at the edge of the water.

Sam and her finished "castle." 

This morning, she and I spent at least two hours down on the beach, expanding her original castle to what you see in the photo. This girl has an intense focus when she's into something, that's for sure!

Blue sky day

Gorgeous!

Or the Facebook spellcheck modified version - "Orpheous!" ;-) Either way, it was a great afternoon for 10 miles down to the ocean and back. I headed out around 12:30, the cool breeze blowing and the sun shining. I actually felt a tad chilly for about 2 minutes as I started out across the fields, but quickly warmed up. It really was perfect running weather. Crisp, dry air, warm sun, cool breeze. Couldn't ask for much better!

The Pennelville fields are slowly turning gold and brown, but in the midst of the autumn tones were hints of purple aster, purple cow vetch, pink clover, white queen anne's lace, yellow goldenrod and indian paint brushes. There was a lovely scent in the air - perhaps the milkweed?

It was high tide down at Simpson's Point and I stopped to take in the view, and attempt to open a gel, not very successfully I might add, before turning back for the return trip. Legs felt great, and it was just such a joy to run on such a wonderful afternoon. Days like this are why I love running! And if I can just get through tomorrow morning's 22 miles and still have energy to meet up with old friends for a long weekend of camping, I'll really be happy :-)

Early

Two early morning runs in a row. The seasons are definitely shifting. It is still pitch dark at 5:30. Tuesday morning, I didn't quite get up early enough for anything big and I didn't have the motivation for it either. So, 4 slow miles on the Highland Green short loop with the edge of the Heath loop added in. Meh.

Felt better today. Headed out at 5:40, just as the sky was getting light enough to be able to see without a headlamp. There was a bank of low fog sitting right down on the ground as I headed out on the powerlines toward the dump. The woods were dark and damp, and with the overcast skies there was no dynamic sunrise this morning, but 7 miles before 7:00 am was still a good way to start the day :-)